Career Development During Times of High Unemployment

Career development is broken into two sub categories: organizational development and personal development.

Organizational development deals with how a person manages their career while employed or in between jobs, and personal development details a person’s career pattern, decision making skills and ability to integrate their life roles with their career choices.

So you’re next question might be “I’m supposed to have a plan?” The answer is, of course, YES. You can probably piece together the puzzle of your personal development by reviewing your résumé. But what about your organizational development?

Think about the good aspects of your last job: what you enjoyed about it, your strengths, and what management complimented you on.

What could you draw and build on?

Perhaps you could research about growing your people skills, leading projects, organizing presentations, or anything else that might make you a more valuable asset to your next employer or client.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ February 2010 report shows the unemployment rate holding steady at 9.7%, with unemployment statistics showing about 4 in 10 people being unemployed for 27 weeks or more.

If you are one of those 4 in 10 people, you need to stand apart from the rest of the competition. But how?

Staying at home catching up on your TV time is not the way to show perspective employers or clients you’ve made good use of your down time!

Why not try volunteering your time and talent to a worthy organization in your community?

Consult, mentor or teach someone a skill that you know, even if it’s not in your field of expertise. It’s all experience that can be added to your résumé, and it shows that you use your initiative, even when you’re not being paid for it.

Don’t forget about catching up on your education, too. It’s easy to take some online courses or to take a simple day class at a local community college. You may even come across some new interests you’d like to pursue.

Remember to keep an open mind and be prepared to take on work that may be new to you. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ February 2010 report also indicated that temp services showed the biggest source of growth in the latter part of 2009.

A new career may be waiting for you, and it’s up to you to find it.

Bette Miles-Holleman is a retail merchandiser, customer service analyst, model and stylist with over 25 years experience in the fashion industry.